Nation/World Briefs

June 01, 2006

Masterbuilt smokers recalled because wood chips can ignite (AP) -- About 10,700 Electric Smokehouse smokers manufactured by Masterbuilt Manufacturing Inc., have been recalled because the wood chips used to produce smoke flavor can ignite when the door of the smoker is opened. The smokers have the Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse logo on the front door. Some have a black exterior and model number ESQ30B. Others have a stainless steel exterior and model number ESQ30S. Customers should contact the company to receive a free repair kit at (800) 489-1581. For more information, visit www.masterbuilt.com and www.cpsc.gov. Abduction victim found alive in motel; suspect arrested BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- A family law attorney was found Wednesday about nine hours after she was abducted at gunpoint from a parking lot and police arrested a man suspected in the kidnapping, officials said. Sandra Eubank Gregory, 34, was found in a motel a few miles from where she was abducted. Lt. Henry Irby said Gregory was "reportedly all right." He would not comment further on her condition. Police swarmed the Comfort Inn around 5:20 p.m. and arrested a man who fit the suspect's description, holding him down on a walkway outside the second-floor motel room before putting him in the back of a police car. The lawyer was led out of the room moments later with a covering over her head. She appeared to walk out under her own power. Irby said police do not believe she knew the man who abducted her. NASA decides foam risk isn't enough to stop Discovery launch CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- All systems are "go" for a July launch of space shuttle Discovery, NASA officials said Wednesday after a two-day review of the dangers posed by foam falling off the vehicle's external tank. NASA managers and engineers have concluded that the risk from falling foam is acceptable and that any foam fragments would be significantly smaller than the 1-pound piece that fell off Discovery last year, said Wayne Hale, shuttle program manager. An even larger piece of foam fell off the tank during Columbia's liftoff in 2003, causing a breach in a wing that allowed fiery gases to shatter the spacecraft during re-entry. All seven astronauts were killed. Discovery's launch, sometime between July 1 and July 19, will be only the second shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster. Government turns down CBS on new appeal of telecast fine WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government on Wednesday rejected a second appeal by CBS to lift the $550,000 fine imposed on its stations for the Janet Jackson breast exposure during the 2004 Super Bowl. The singer briefly exposed one breast during the halftime show in what she later called a "wardrobe malfunction." The Federal Communications Commission rejected CBS's claim that the show was not indecent and said the violation was "willful." May surge puts Indonesia in line to take lead in bird flu deaths JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesia averaged one human bird flu death every 2 1/2 days in May, putting it on pace to soon surpass Vietnam as the world's hardest-hit country. The latest death, announced Wednesday, was a 15-year-old boy whose preliminary tests were positive for the H5N1 virus. It comes as international health officials express growing frustration that they must fight Indonesia's bureaucracy as well as the disease. Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands with a population of 220 million people, has a patchwork of local, regional and national bureaucracies that often send mixed messages. The impression, health officials said, is often that no one is truly at the helm.